Antimine bomb



.2mm l? F. SHORT ANTIMINE BOMB Filed OCC. 2l, 1944 F1" ank Ehmr'i Patented July 12, 1949 l 2 Claims.

I(Grantdunder the act of "amended April"30, 1928; "370 0. 757) il The inventiomdescribedthereinmay be manu- .acturedrand .used.by,or. `forl the Government. for governmental .purposesiwithout .the .payment .to

ement. any .royaltythereon invention relatestomethods of,.clearng rmineaields.

A ...purpose rof the invention eis to provide a zmeanstoft .clearing-.minefelds, quickly..,and with safety.

Another purpose is to provide a bomb,adaptedC @for dise.. in\..olearing.mneelds, .which can. be

dropped fromamairplane ontothe mine .eldin sucient! quantities. .fonthe sympathetic .detonaxtionpta greatnumber of.mines.at the Sametime.

NOtherpurposesIvvilLbecome.apparent `fromthe :following-.description iln...th-is iinvention it de .proposed to., clear.. enemy mine`elds,by`.drppping.a :large-number pf. relatively-smalifpercussion operated bombs. on. to. the mine.n.elrs;y causing...a.,1arge,:number. of closely spaced b1asts',.whereby.the mines.areexplodedby vsympathetic...detonation. Afstandard y.oiensive handgrenadesisonasize; adaptableior. this vpurnose;I anda greatfmanymaybe. clustered together for.. dropping. by t airplane. Since the oiensive typeiot-.handgrenade has. nozheavyiironcasing and doesrnotexplode.-intogfragments of-.anygreat .fweightwthamethodlwould causefaiminimum .-r-isk to .advancing ifriendly.-personnel and :tanks-equipment.

andgpresse'dbre ends 3 and` declosely fitted over oppositeends ofthe outer cylndrical-wallfZ. The. body Lcontains a maincharge 5 oapproximately on.ha`lf pound of.`.TN'I1 pressed into (the shapebf acylinder to t into the-body portion .A;paper'linec fuse well 6 stformed inftheyhead end 'of the main charge 5 for accommodating a fuse. A tail support 1, tted with a threaded opening 8 is attached tightly to the tail end of the body portion I. A tail 9 having a tubular support l threaded at one end, and a plurality of tail ns Il on the other end, is screwed into the tail.. support; I as shown. At the headc end of the..foo.mb, A.. an :internally threaded use., supportr lf2 is...at.ta.ched..to orformed .integraLWih the nbre ends. Asshownin. Rigs.. 1,. and y3ra fuse. body. i3` havingathreaded, cylindrical Ahollow .projection ,i4 with central .bore |6.is, threaddtnto .thesupport .42..vvith its.projection .M -.projecting nto...the fuse well. gpercussionecaol-Sfis .placed .in .theouterf end of. thefcentral bore lnits .head end i .being Supported .in ...a `:small annular recess. I7 at..theouter-\vend..of .central ,boreat .The restof, bore. .l acontainsa booster-fchargef. A..lip .l8..fon...the fusedoodyA 13.* is.engaged. by.a hook I Si. formed .in the extremity ola safety lever zmhaxzinganfiextension 2l. --A,pin '22SeCm-ed throughpposite. openings. .in.,the. fuse. .body 13. pivotally... supports a carrier.4 23 which fhas .-at.=.ts outer..iextremitytatransverse Aboret `24. Afring pin 2 5, ,having a .shaft- 26 .andra .pressure receiver .21..iss slidably. mounted iin.. theolooi-ei 24 Wthf tits pointed end .28 .near 1 one... endrof. theborel 24;;sddt .canbe imadeftore the f .Cap .I 5 :when the carrier szin.armed;.position. 4,A-,shear l.pin 29;-passes through @transverse bore`30 in the. ringfapngS and, ,also .through I.af pair .-of;:opposite1y disposed ho1es..in...the wallsof theborezlt inthe carrierl. A. .coiled carrier .springl 32, :having yseveral .turns wound' around-.the pin 2 2, has. oneend. 33 .bearing againstthe bodyof, .the .carrier `23,and the other end-34wearing.against-the =f11se body; J3, fsdesgto urge. ,the.` .carriertomotate aboutythetpin Z 5in a counterclockwise direction fr0m,-11Ia.lmdrpr safe.position..shown inf-Eig.; 2 .-to. :thefarmed position, shown in, Eigf.

The bomb ,shown-:differs ,also from :the: conventionaihand; grenade-.in thatithas no del and. is .adapted .fori instant detonatiomu pact ...of the pressure receiver 21 ground. Thus, ,ther fuse@ as-gshown and. .the enlarged c -zutawayy view pt' rgure 2,:'isiin the .safe position.. since. the :carrier .g 23 ...isi-:fully retracted .and Iheld inwsafesposition by the sarety lever; 20. t

.A .borea (is v4:icm-ned;through; the. fiuse; body-:1 3 and aligned with aspair; of-rholesftt: forment .1in projectionsf 55 .-.of,.,s.atety f.. m20. :Atsafetyvpin 56 :having al-nuIl rima 5'11..1'si;.inter-tradiv through; ythe aligned .holeselieandfboref5. i, xthus. securing'sthe satetynlever 20 ein; place; as. shown in Fig. 1;.1. Before, beset-emulators- 12 ztcan beffrelea-sedf-,nthe safety pin 56 must be pulled out of the aligned holes 54 and bore 53. When the safety lever extension 2| is released, the pressure of spring 32 causes the carrier 23 to press against safety lever 20, forcing the safety lever outward and the lever lcompartment is filled. A strap lliti has one 29 thus drops away from the bomb and fuse body. The carrier 23 impelled by the spring 32, rotates about the pivot 22l from the position shown in Fig. 2 to the armed position shown in Fig. 3. As the bomb drops toward the ground, the effect of the tail ns I| is to hold the bomb vertical with nose down. Upon impact with the ground or a building, the impact receiver 21 is hit rst, causing the shear pin 29 to be sheared through and permitting the firing pin end 28 to hit the percussion cap I exploding it. The resulting blast in the fuse well 6 explodes the booster charge 58 and the main charge 5. A mine in the immediate vicinity oi the explosion will be set off by sympathetic detonation.

For convenience in dropping from aircraft, a large number of these anti-mine bombs may be formed into a cluster or placed in a discharge rack. One -fo'rm of rack adapted to discharge a 4large number of these bombs from an aeroplane at the same time, is shown in Figure 4 with sectional view along the line 5--5 of Fig, 4 shown in Figure 5. From the illustrations it will be noted that the rack comprises four vertical compartments 35, 31, 38 and 39 formed between the top member 49, the side members 4|, 42, 43, 44, 45

and the back member 59 covering the entire back -of the rack. The rack may be of wood or metal.

With the rack lying on its back 59, a bomb is pla-ced in the first compartment 35 with its safety -lever 20 against the inner side of the top mem- -ber 40. The next bomb is placed as shown, with -its safety lever against the side of the first bomb,

similarly until the end 6| fastened to the back member 59 by means of and succeeding bombs placed -a screw 162 and its `other end 46 -formed into a loop 5|. The strap 60 may be made of leather, canvas,

metal, or other suitable material. As shown, the strap 50 is placed so as to hold the bombs rmly within the rack, and its end 5| is secured through a hole 41 in the top member 40 and also through a similar hole in a washer 48 placed over the hole 41, a cotter pin 63 being then inserted through the loop 5| thus holding the strap 6D firmly in place. The hole 41 and the corresponding hole in the washer 48 should be large enough to allow the loop 5| to pass through, and the cotter pin v63 should be longer than the diameter of the said holes so it will prevent the loop 5I from being pulled through the said holes until the pin -63 is removed.

All the compartments are provided with similar holding straps and are iilled with bombs in the same manner. All the cotter pins y63 are connected by pull wires 49 to a pull ring 52 by means of -which a single pull will pull out all four cotter pins 53, thereby discharging the bombs from the rack as their weight pulls down the straps B0. Before the rack is -fastened intothe bomb bay of the airplane,.all the safety pins `5B are pulled out of the individual bombs. When the pull ring 52 is pulled, discharging `the bombs, the safety levers 20 fall away and the strikers 23 rotate to the armed position shown in Figure 3. The fins 1| cause the bombs to hit the mine field nose downward, and the impact shears the shear pins 29, allowing the firing pins to set off the percussion caps I5, exploding the bombs and causing nearby mines to explode by sympathetic detonation. A

4 path may be cleared across the mine iield by dropping a large number of these small bombs across the mine field.

While the -foregoing specification sets forth the invention in specific terms, it is t-o be understood that numerous changes in the shape, size, arrangement and materials may be res-orted to without `departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed hereinafter.

I claim:

1. In a bomb comprising a. casing, a primer therein for initiating explosion of the bomb, a pivot means on said casing, a carrier eccentrically pivoted on said pivot means for ya swinging movement into alignment with said primer, an impact actuated means slidably maintained on said carrier in a position perpendicular to the axis of said pivot means ywhereby when said carrier is swung toward said primer said impact actuated means will be placed into aligned proximity with said primer, detent means in said carrier for yieldingly holding said impact actuated means against relative movement on said carrier where'- by said impact actuated means is held spaced from said primer when said carrier is aligned with said primer, and means associated with said carrier and said casing for moving said carrier into alignment with said primer whereby said impact actuating means will strike said primer upon impact;

2. In a bomb comprising a casing, a primer therein for initiating explosion of the bomb, a pivot means on said casing, a carrier eccentrically pivoted on said pivot means for a swinging movement into engagement with said primer, an impact actuated means slidably mounted on said carrier whereby when said carrier is swung into engagement with said primer said impact actu ated means will be placed into aligned proximity with said primer, detentl means in said carrier for yieldingly holding said impact actuated means against relative movement on said carrier whereby said impact actuated means is held spaced from said primer when said carrier is in engagement with said primer, and spring means on said pivot means engaging said carrier and said casing for moving said carrier into and retaining the same in engagement with said primer whereby said impact actuating means is held adjacent and in alignment with said primer preparatory to striking the same upon impact.

FRANK SHORT.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the le of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 

